


The Season of Giving

by conceptstage



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Found Family, Secret Santa, Winter's Crest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2018-11-15
Packaged: 2019-08-24 01:56:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16630658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/conceptstage/pseuds/conceptstage
Summary: Prompted from tumblr:The Mighty Nein do a secret santa exchange.





	The Season of Giving

“Alright,” Jester said, her shoulders so scrunched in excitement it looked like she might shoot off of her chair like a rocket. “Who’s going first. Who gets to go first?!”

Fjord chuckled fondly. “It seems to me that you want to go first, so why don’t you just go ahead, Jes?”

“Ooooh yay, I get to go first!” She reached under her chair and pulled out a meticulously wrapped present in the brightest, gaudiest Winter’s Crest wrapping paper imaginable. She turned to Nott and grinned so widely that the goblin’s fight or flight instincts started screaming ‘PREDATOR’ at her and it took all of her self control not to take off in the other direction. “Nott. This is for you. I was so, so, so very happy when I pulled your name, that’s why I ran to the other room so that I didn’t give it away.” She handed the present over and Nott took it, turning it around in her claws to admire the shiny paper. “It’s lovely, Jester,” she said. “It’s very shiny, thank you.”

“No, you’re supposed to rip the paper off, the present is inside,” Beau said, leaning back with the front two legs of her chair hovering over the ground. Molly looked at her like he was wondering when would be the funniest time to tip her over and deciding that it wasn’t now. Maybe later.

“Rip it? But it’s so very shiny.”

“Okay,” Jester said. “We’ll take it off very carefully and you can keep the paper and the present.”

“Is the present as shiny as the paper?”

“Shinier.”

“Let’s do it.”

And so Jester and Nott spent the next several minutes carefully pulling away the wrapping paper and folding it up. “Ugggghhhh,” Beau groaned. “This is so- Holy shit!”

Molly tipped her back and she toppled to the floor. “Interesting enough yet?”

“Molly, I’m going to kill you!” she exclaimed, getting to her feet. 

Fjord wrapped his arms around her from behind and forced her sit in the other empty chair at the table, next to Caleb and far away from Molly. “Hey, come on, y’all, this is supposed to be a fun event.”

“I’m having fun,” Molly said, twirling a loose strand of hair around his finger. 

Beau glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest. “I think beating him up would be fun.”

Fjord leaned over to her and whispered in her ear. “Come on, now, do this Jester.”

Beau instantly deflated and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, alright,” she said, just as Jester and Nott finished with the wrapping paper.

“Done!” Jester exclaimed.

Nott frowned at the cardboard box in front of her. “This isn’t shiny.”

“It’s inside the box,” Beau said. “Have you really never gotten a present before?”

“Caleb gives me presents but those aren’t usually wrapped up in so many layers. What’s the point of putting the present inside a box inside paper?”

“Just open it.”

Nott shrugged but ripped the box in half, revealing a very shiny golden ruby necklace. Nott’s eyes got very wide as she turned the necklace around in her fingers. “Do you like it?” Jester asked, her hands clutched hopefully in front of her. “Oh, I hope so much that you like it.”

“Jester, this is the best thing I have ever had in my entire life.”

“Oh! I’m so glad! It was my mother’s. Don’t worry, she has three just like it, she won’t miss it.”

“Who’s next?” Fjord asked, glancing around the table. Everyone was getting antsy after that very long unwrapping sequence and they needed to move fast before everyone started getting hungry. There was no dealing with them when they were hungry, they were like cats.

“I’ll go,” Molly said, holding up his hand. “Caduceus, my friend, this is for you.” He pulled a small, wide box out from behind his back.

The firbolg looked surprised, but took the box and flipped it open. “Oh, my,” he said, pulling out the tiny planter. “This is great. This is really great. I’ll go plant it outside right away.”

“No, no,” Molly said, reaching out to touch his arm when he tried to stand. “It’s called a succulent. It’s supposed to be in that planter, it does very well like that. They’re supposedly extremely hardy, need very little water, and as they grow you can take pieces of them off, put them on the ground and they grow brand new independent plants.”

“Oh, this is lovely,” Caduceus said, smiling softly. “I will treasure it always. Perhaps I should go now?”

He reached into his very large pocket and pulled out a finely crafted book. “I am sorry, I did not know to wrap it,” he said, handing it across the table to Caleb.

Caleb took the book excitedly. “Oh, it’s no problem, no problem at all. Is this what I think it is?”

“Yes. First edition.”

“How… How did you find this?”

“It was my brother’s, he was an avid book collector and he left many of them behind when he went away. I figured he would prefer that you have them than for them to waste away on a shelf at the house.”

“This is… I have to start reading now, I-” He got up from the table and started to walk away, already flipping to the first page.

“Caleb,” Fjord chastised. “You still need to give your present.”

“Ah, I- Yes, you're right.” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small square present wrapped in plain brown paper. He walked around the table to hand it to Yasha. “There you are. Enjoy. If you’ll excuse me, I have some reading to do,” and then he walked away, leaving no time for further protests.

Yasha looked perplexed. “Thank you, Caleb,” she called, though he was already gone. She carefully pulled away the paper, revealing a small leather bound notebook with the word ‘Flowers’ pressed in the cover with gold leaf. Silently, she pulled out her old notebook and started transferring the pressed flowers into her brand new one.

Molly grinned. “Yasha, darling, I realize you’re very happy with your gift, but it’s your turn.”

Yasha didn’t even look up. She just sat the present, a cardboard box about the size of her head, on the table. “Here you are, Fjord. Please enjoy.”

Fjord blinked in surprise but picked it up and and opened it, peeking inside. Beau, beside him, also stretched up to see in. “Oh, shit,” she said, grinning.

Fjord’s mouth was gaping as he pulled the present out of the box. “Yasha, where did you get these?” he asked, holding up the solid gold tusk rings with jewels inlaid around them. “These are too much, I can’t even imagine how much they cost you.”

“They were free. The man who was wearing them doesn’t have a head anymore, he doesn’t need them. They are a little big for you now but if you decide to keep growing your tusks out they would look very nice. Or you could sell them, I suppose, they are yours now and you can do as you like.”

Fjord carefully put them back in the box and set it aside. “Thank you very much, Yasha. Is it my turn now, I guess?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sack that jingled with coins. “Molly. Here’s two hundred gold pieces. You are impossible to shop for.” He tossed the coins over and Molly grinned as he caught them out of the air.

“That is by design, my friend. Nothing about me is an accident. Thank you very much, I will use these to buy something you’ll find overpriced and gaudy.”

Fjord grimaced but then gave his friend a fond smile. “I’m sure you will. Who’s left?”

Beau raised a hand. “Me. Jester, this is for you.” She handed Jester something carefully wrapped in tissue paper. 

Jester squealed and threw the tissue paper over her shoulder, gasping when she realized what she was holding in her hands. “Is this… Is this a dress for Sprinkle? Did you get me a weasel dress that matches mine?” Jester climbed up onto the wooden table, ignored the shouts of ‘Hey! Jester, come on!’ and wrapped her arms around her friend’s shoulders. “You’re the best friend ever!” Then she shuffled backwards off the table and back into her seat. She pulled Sprinkle up into her lap while everyone else tried to fix their plates and bowls that she’d knocked over and pulled the dress on. “ _ Oh my god she’s so cute I’m gonna die _ !” She gasped. “Beau where did you find this?”

Beau shrugged and stared at her fingernails. “Just at a store.”

“We have to go there, I want to buy their entire weasel collection.”

“Uhh… it was in another town.”

“We can go back, right? Everyone, we can go back right?”

“It’s closed down.”

Fjord raised an eyebrow as he watched Beau’s face get redder and redder. “You know,” he said, smirking at her. “It’s kind of amazing that they had a dress for weasels that looks identical to the one Jester always wears.”

“Oh yeah!” The tiefling exclaimed. “That’s very strange!”

Beau covered her burning face and slid down in her chair. “Okay, okay! I made it! There, you happy? My mom taught me to sew when I was little and I made the stupid dress!”

Jester gasped again. “Is that true, Beau? Did you make this?”

Fjord snickered and Beau elbowed him hard in the rib cages. “Ow, shit, that’s gonna bruise,” he hissed under his breath.

“Yes. I’ve been working on it for a couple of weeks.”

“That is the best thing I have ever heard! I’m going to hug you again!”

She started to climb back up on the the table and everyone shouted. “No! Jester, sit down!”

“You can hug her later,” Yasha said, patting her shoulder awkwardly.

Jester stared at Sprinkle in the new dress and her eyes started to get teary. “Nobody ever made me something before,” she said, sniffling. “Oh, this is the best Winter’s Crest ever.”

Beau smiled slightly and then clapped her hands. “There we go. Everyone's got a present? Alright, let’s go get drunk. First round’s on Molly because he’s a dick.”

Molly rolled his eyes but moved with everyone to head to the bar. “I don’t think so, this money from Fjord is going towards a dress I saw in the market the other day.”

Fjord held Beau back until it was just the two of them left at the table. “Wait, you didn’t get anything.”

Beau raised an eyebrow. “Sure I did.”

“No, Nott had your name, she didn’t give you anything.”

“I’m sure she did, you’re just getting old and forgetting shit.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I think I’d remember whether or not I got a present.”

Fjord still looked uncertain but he nodded and headed towards the bar with the others. Beau waited until they were distracted and then she headed around to the back of the inn. There was a large box sitting on the back of their cart with a note that said ‘To Beau’ in messy handwriting and the stamp on the side said ‘Lionett’s Winery’ in big blue letters.

Beau smirked and cracked it open, counting thirty stolen bottles of her family’s wine. “Happy holidays, Nott,” she whispered, grunting as she pulled the cork out of one and then taking a swig. “God, I hate how good this shit is. Why do such crappy people gotta make such great booze?”


End file.
